The Sima Clan

Days passed since Yun lightly disciplined Zhang Fei who learned the hard way what happens when you disobey Yun's orders and they were only one day away from the wedding between Yun and Diao Chan.

Yun was wrestling with Lu Bu for fun the whole morning since he needed to get his head free of all his thoughts on the matter which Sima gifted him the mansion when a servant walks towards them.

"Young Master, some guests arrived to see you," says the servant making Lu Bu and Yun stop their spar.

"Is it the Sima Clan?" asks Yun as the servant nods.

"Yes, they only sent three people but if we go by importance then we should say they are the only ones that need to be here," says the servant as Yun nods.

"Lu Bu, we will continue once I have dealt with this," says Yun as Lu Bu was exhausted from all the wrestling since they were doing it the whole morning.

"I will just lay here until you return," says Lu Bu as he lays down on the ground breathing heavily in and out feeling that Yun must be a monster for not showing his exhaustion.

"Bring him something to drink," says Yun as the servant nods and leaves while Yun goes the opposite way.

He goes to his room and changes his clothes after cleaning himself of the sweat. Then he walks towards the main hall in a calm state thanks to the wrestling with Lu Bu.

He enters the hall and finds a middle-aged man, a young man, and a boy sitting there, making Yun's eyes land on the young boy thinking about the possibilities of him being Sima Yi, when he remembered the words of the servant which made a smile appear on his face.

"Nice to meet you, I am Zhao Yun and you must be Sima Fang," says Yun looking at the middle-aged man that looked quite serious at him.

He had long black and a well-kept mustache decorating his face with brown eyes. The young man beside him looked a lot like him but didn't decorate a mustache. The boy was like the younger version of the young man.

Yun sat down across from them when he could feel excitement coming from the boy and the young man while the middle-aged man was too serious for his liking.

"That is right, I am Sima Fang and those are two of my sons, Sima Lang and Sima Yi. Sima Yi is quite excited to meet you that he sneaked into the carriage while his brother and I were distracted," says Sima Fang serious as he looked at Sima Yi.

"Well, it is hard to control the youth. My student also ran away from home only to be scolded by his mother later on," says Yun with a smile as he looked at Sima Yi before turning to Sima Fang.

"But I have a question, why did you gift me this mansion?" asks Yun seriously making Sima Fang realize that he was talking not to a boy but a man that has seen war.

"It wasn't my idea but the idea of my brother and son. They did it behind my back while I was filling in some reports about our losses against the Yellow Turbans," says Sima Fang informing Yun about what happened.

"So they did it behind your back," says Yun as he looked at Sima Lang who seemed to whistle into the air trying to evade Yun's attention.

"If you want recompensation we can talk about it right now. I was breaking my head the whole time why the Sima Clan would give me this mansion in the first place," says Yun as suddenly Sima Lang interferes.

"My uncle heard from a secure source that you were looking for a house and we thought that by doing so we could build dome rapport with you," says Sima Lang as Yun looked at the young man that seemed more excited than Sima Yi about meeting him.

"I'm sorry about my son and his words," says Sima Fang as he hit his son's back of the head making Sima Lang hold his back of the head because his father didn't know mercy when it came to them, not following the protocol he taught them.

"They both are quite fond of you because of the stories that are spreading over the Central Plain," says Sima Fang as he explained why the two were excited to meet Yun.

"Stories are stories, they don't contain the whole truth like how I lost a third of my men to take Zhuo," says Yun in a sad tone.

"But you killed the Leader of the Rebellion on your own and took Guangyang without losing one man," says Sima Yi excited when another palm hits the back of a head.

Sima Fang was scrupulous to his sons making Yun think how scrupulous he would be to his enemies just by seeing how fast his palms were flying around.

Yun smiled at Sima Yi before bursting out in laughter which confused the sons of Sima Fang when they hear, "I did that indeed but that isn't entirely true."

"What do you mean?" asks Sima Lang as Sima Fang was now curious as well.

"I didn't lose one man because my army didn't fight in that battle but only I and one of my commanders. We climbed the city wall and opened the gate from inside for Zou Jing's army from there I commanded Zou Jing's troops to victory," says Yun as he told them how he really won that battle without losing one man.

"My troops back then were too exhausted to participate in that battle and it was too risky for me to lead them into that battle," says Yun as a servant entered the room bringing some tea for them.

"What do you mean with too risky?" asks Sima Fang as he was intrigued by what Yun was saying.

He thought that Yun got his position because of the stories that were flying around but he could feel that Yun was a young man that saw the frontline.

"I recruited some of the prisoners which made it risky that they could betray us in the middle of the battle and the longer the campaign went on the higher were the probability that they would betray me so I had to use an all-or-nothing move which paid off as you can see," says Yun as he wouldn't be sitting across of them if he failed.

"I can see now why you became one of the Youngest General and hold a title that was conferred to you by the Emperor himself," says Sima Fang as he could make himself a picture of Yun right now which didn't come from the stories.

Sima Lang and Yi seemed more excited than before when Yun looked at Sima Yi again while thinking, 'Too believe that the Mastermind that would lead to the creating of the Jin-Dynasty is such a playful kid at the moment.'

"So what do we do about the trouble over the mansion?" asks Yun again as Sima Fang was thinking about it when Diao Chan walked into the hall with Qing and Madam Wei.

Diao Chan was holding a chessboard in her left hand while carrying a wooden box in the other when she says, "Yun can you explain to us the rules of western chess again. They are quite different than those of our chess."

Diao Chan didn't realize she walked in when Yun was discussing something important with Sima Fang when Sima Yi seemed to pick an interest in what Diao Chan said.

"Western Chess?" asks Sima Fang as Yun nods.

"I like it more than our chess since it feels more frustrating and merciless if you make a single mistake," says Yun going by his experience in the game.

"Do you want to try it?" asks Yun as Sima Yi nods instantly with Sima Lang right behind him while Sima Fang gave a little cough from himself making them sit straight again.

"We would love to see what you mean," says Sima Fang as Yun again couldn't resolve the matter about the mansion.

"Let me present to you my future wife, Diao Chan. Then my sister, Zhao Qing, and the wife of my friend Lu Bu, Wei Mei," says Yun presenting them to Sima Fang and his sons while doing the same for the women when Diao Chan placed the board on the table.

Yun went through the pieces and placed them on the board, making Sima Yi say, "So the Queen is the most valuable piece in the game."

"Not really the most valuable piece in the game is the Pawn," says Yun holding the smallest piece in-between his fingers.

"Really?" asks Sima Lang confused as Yun nods.

"Without the Pawns, there would be no frontline and if they ever reach the end of the board they get promoted to a new Queen," says Yun as he explained the rules while everyone was listening when Yun says, "How about you all join together and play against me."

"You think you can outsmart us six," says Sima Fang as Yun smiled at him.

"I played this game for a long time against a wanderer from the west when I was a child. He taught me this game," says Yun lying about it.

They sat down when they realized something and the Sima Clan stood up from their seats as they pointed at Qing's pet which she was holding in her arms.

"Is that a Tiger?" asks Sima Fang nervous as Yun smiles.

"Didn't you meet the Tigers of the house?" asks Yun as he was surprised that they didn't encounter Snowflake and the others.

"You have more?" asks Sima Fang as Yun nods.

"A total of five including the one Qing is holding. I picked them up while traveling," says Yun as he waited for them to make their first move.

"They are tamed so don't worry about them attacking you except you have ill-intention toward us they won't attack," says Yun as Sima Yi was surprised that the tiger kitten was peacefully laying in Qing's arms.

They got themselves together as they sat down again and they moved their first piece when Yun moved his first piece.

They were in the middle of the game when Yun asks again, "About the Mansion?"

"You can keep it. I thought they were exaggerating your potential but I can see that you are always prepared to be flanked," says Sima Fang as he was into the game.

Sima Fang thought he was two steps ahead of Yun only to find out that he has fallen into Yun's trap who already was several steps ahead of him and the others.

Yun placed the Pawn at their end of the board and a Queen took its place when he says, "Checkmate."

"This game is quite good resembling our chess in many ways just that those pieces have different value and moving patterns," says Sima Fang when Yun smiles.

"How about I ask the carpenter if he can make another set so you can play it at home," says Yun as Sima Yi lost it because his idol was gifting them an awesome game in his mind.

"Yes, please," says Sima Yi hastily when a palm came flying for his head again making him sit straight again.

Sima Fang coughs again and says, "We would be honored to have such a game at home. It would be a good game to train our younger generation."

"It's just a game. I should be honored that you gifted me this mansion," says Yun as he smiled seeing a smile on the serious Sima Fang who would scare even his allies away while celebrating a victory with his serious attitude.

"It is, but we should leave for today since tomorrow will be your big day. Maybe you can visit us next time with your wife," says Sima Fang as he dragged both his sons out of the main hall which preferred to stay longer which made Yun laugh in his mind seeing Sima Yi being dragged away like that.